I had my eyes done on Saturday (4 days ago), and although I measured 20/30 the day after, I am still experiencing "halos" around flourescent lighting and fine print at distance isn't yet clear for me. Things also become less clear to me as the day wears on..

The Dr. explained that different people heal at different rates, and the fact that 1) I am over 40, and 2) I had a very severe prescription (-5.50 on R and -5.00 on L eye) will determine how quickly I get "perfect" clarity.

My frustration is I have heard about people having LASIK and seeing "flawlessly" the very next day!
I know I am an impatient type (Type A) individual, and I do work almost continuously in flourescent lighting (went to work the next day) and also use the computer at work several hours a day..all things that probably don't help much!

On the positive side, I have NO symptoms, discomfort or other issues. But the "whites" of my eyes are still red/bloodshot and I have been applying ALL three types of drops religiously (anti-biotic, anti-inflammatory, and preservative-free tears)..

ANY personal experiences, advice, or feedback would be appreciated!
(Or, maybe I just need to "chill out" for a week and THEN re-evaluate!)

It's just frustrating when you are told the procedure went perfectly, but you are not "seeing" the results (yet)..
THANKS!

Footslogger

April 19th, 2006, 02:34 PM

Had my LASIK in June 2001 late in the afternoon. Went home that night questioning my own sanity. Sat up for a while and tried to imagine seeing perfectly through all that antibiotic paste they smear over the surface of the eye following the procedure. Finally decided to just eat some chicken noodle soup and go to bed. Donned my little goggles and drifted off to lala land.

Woke up the next morning and my lids were stuck shut. Blinked a coulple times to try and get the tears flowing. Looked across the room (about 10 or so feet away) and could read the titles on the spines of the books in the rack.

Had my "day after" check up and I was a little better than perfect in both eyes.

Almost 5 years later and my distance vision is still a tad better than perfect.

I do have to wear a weak reading glass (1.25X) to read fine print in low light settings but other than that the vision is great.

'Slogger

mrjimboalaska

April 19th, 2006, 02:59 PM

Had mine done Dec 2002, my eyes still get tired later in the day and the vision gets a little blurry. I was seeing 20/15 the next day, still get some halo's when my eyes are tired. Also, one eye is 20/20 and the other is 20/15 and at times i question the difference between the two, I MAY have the other touched up. Freedom from glasses and contacts just for the last 4 years have been worth it. I have problems reading REAL SMALL print though.
Congrats, Jimbo

LVX

April 19th, 2006, 03:11 PM

I can't speak for everyone but I had Lasiks 4 months ago and as soon as I stood up from the chair, I could see a lot better although there was definitely some haloing going on. In fact, that night I made the mistake and wanted to drive to the store. As I got in my car, I decided to put drops in my eyes. I then immedately drove off. As soon as cars with headlights started coming at me, I really freaked out and had to pull over and wipe the excess drops out of my eyes so I could drive. The next day the haloing was gone. Tomorrow is my 4 month appointment to see how they have changed from the first day.

Other than that, my experience was exactly as Mr Jim wrote.

k8brandt

April 19th, 2006, 03:21 PM

Yes, just chill out for a few days.

I had LASIK done way back in 99. I went from -10 diopters with astigmatism to 20/30 vision. I also needed reading glasses. They tell you this will not stop the natural aging of the eyes and in the seven years I have degraded a "wee bit" to where I need minor correction for distance (i.e., driving), and I only need reading glasses for very teeny print. When I am tired, I do notice the starburst or halos on the lights.

Hang in there, it will get better.

LauraLynnee

April 19th, 2006, 04:42 PM

Do you know what type of Lasik you had, was it all laser (sometimes known as intralase) or done with a mircokeratome (a traditional blade)? I work in medical marketing and I've heard there's a syndrome that can occur with All-Laser Lasik, it's called Transient light sensitivity (usually it takes a week to set in though) where you experience halos and extreme light sensitivity. Fortunately it clears up with Steroid use within a few months. If your symptoms persist, you may want to head back in to your surgeon for some stronger steroid drops. Let me know how it all works out. :D

LVX

April 19th, 2006, 04:54 PM

Mine was Laser

RumBum

April 20th, 2006, 10:09 AM

Lasik date 1/3/06.
I did not see 20/20 until maybe a week after surgery.
I continued to have very bad night vision and halos for about 6 weeks.
I had dry eyes with slow improvement until now. Now I only need the rewetting drops before I go to bed and first thing when I wake up in the morning.
I am still sensitive to very bright daylight and am dependent on sunglasses when I go outside. I think this is improving and hope that it will continue to improve.

Overall, just be patient, your eyes will improve and within 2-3 months you will look back at this and think "why was I so freaked out? Lasik was the best thing I ever spent good money on!"

Padipro

April 20th, 2006, 08:45 PM

I had mine done sometime around the fall of 2000. I had the halos for quite some time after the surgery but they eventually went away. Just give it some time and things will get better, like you said people heal at different rates. I still get blurred vision now and again when the allergies kick in this time a year. Other then that I think it's the best money I ever spent.

erdoc1

April 22nd, 2006, 02:47 AM

I had lasik by one of the Bausch and Lomb research MDs here in Rochester, NY in August.

First of all, 20/20 vision is not, by definition, perfect vision. It only means that you can discern particular letters at a specific distance. It does not account for astigmatism or many other visual defects.

I actually have 20/15 vision in both eyes and suffer from episodes of blurriness and haloes, particularly at night. My uncorrected vision is actually not as good as the vision I had with contacts at nighttime. Despite this, I am pretty pleased with my decision to get lasiked, since it makes my life a whole lot easier (I accidentally rubbed out my contact lens at work last summer and had to go home and replace it).

Also - very few people have flawless vision immediately postop, even with the best laser and in the most skilled hands. Follow up with your surgeon.

laserdoc

April 22nd, 2006, 06:44 AM

These posts about halos and starbursts when you look at lights is because you guys had your lasik done on a Visix broadbeam laser or worse and old summit apex laser. Newer technology lasers use a flying 1 mm spot laser beam and they are able to round off all the sharp edges. Think of it as a stairstep. The edges of the stair are the sharp corners and they will reflect light giving you the halos at night. A flying spot laser rounds thes edges off to make it look like a bell curve. Make sure you ask your Doctor to implant tubes in your tearducts to get rid of dry eye.It will take him about 15 seconds ....you will never have dry eye again. As for the main question,,,,,You should clear up in about a week or 2. 20/30 postop is not so good should be 20/20 or20/15. In a few weeks you will most likely be around 20/25

erdoc1

April 23rd, 2006, 10:51 PM

Is there a surgical correction for the halo problem with the Visix laser? Or will fixing the dry eye problem help? I notice the problem is at its worst when I'm driving home at 2 am from work after staring at my computer screen or somebody's gaping open laceration for a few hours.

Footslogger

April 24th, 2006, 08:59 AM

Is there a surgical correction for the halo problem with the Visix laser? Or will fixing the dry eye problem help? I notice the problem is at its worst when I'm driving home at 2 am from work after staring at my computer screen or somebody's gaping open laceration for a few hours.
========================================
When I was researching LASIK and interviewing eye surgeons I learned that most of the halo problems are caused when the pupil diameter of the eye exceeds the width of the laser. You end up with a ring of uncorrect lens around the periphery of the pupil that reacts (refracts) light differently than the central lens.

Not sure if there is a correction for that problem but it reinforces the importance of being properly screened for the type of vision correction surgery (LASIK being one of them) you are considering. For LASIK, the critical criteria are PUPIL DIAMETER and CORNEAL THICKNESS.

I got LASIK in June 2001 and couldn't be more pleased. My vision since the morning after surgery has been just a little better than perfect in each eye. I wear a weak reading glass (1.25X) for small print in limited light. Small price to pay for great distance vision. Have the 1.25x magifyers in my dive mask for viewing the console and camera controls.

'Slogger

laserdoc

April 25th, 2006, 07:34 AM

Is there a surgical correction for the halo problem with the Visix laser? Or will fixing the dry eye problem help? I notice the problem is at its worst when I'm driving home at 2 am from work after staring at my computer screen or somebody's gaping open laceration for a few hours.
If you want to spend the money for custom lasik then the answer is yes. The newer Visix lasers should take care of the halo problems. What the custom lasik procedure does is maps your eye. Think of your eye as the surface of the moon. Peaks and valleys. Custom maps your eye and the laser beam hits all the mtn tops and smooths everything down. Everyones older lasers did not do this. Custom as been out on the market for about 3 years. Is it worth the money??????What I heard from Doctors is that custom really is a toss up. I had my eyes done on a Bausch and Lomb laser. This one has a 1mm flying spot laser beam that dances all over your eye. I think you should try to get your doctor to inplant the tubes into your tear ducts. You will be very happy that you did. Like I said it will take him about 30 seconds in the office chair and you will never have dry eye again. The tubes are about the size of 15 pound fishing line. Go get the tubes you will be glad you did. Custom is about another 1000.00 per eye

dukeh20

April 27th, 2006, 08:00 PM

I had my Lasik last October. As was mentioned in one of the earlier posts, the doctor used the Intralase method (one laser to cut the flap and the other to make the correction). I will be turning 50 the end of the year and have worn glasses since junior high. The first thing I did was toss the glasses, the second was to pull the corrective lenses out of my mask. I ended up with only having one eye done giving me monovision, one reading eye, one distance eye. It sounds strange, but now I am 20/20 on the distance stuff and can read the smallest print on the eye chart or prescription bottle. I have not had the halo problem at night, maybe I'm just lucky. Hang in there, they told me it might take a little while for the adjustment to settle in. I have dove in the pool with my wife's open water class and can not wait to see how different it is in the Keys in July.

Duke

Lloyd

April 28th, 2006, 10:30 AM

Harley,
It is impossible to say for sure if and when the halos will go away. The all laser procedure does cause more tissue inflammation which will take a while to go away. Each person is different. However, even with the best machine and surgeon, it is possible for you to always have halos. Nothing in medicine is perfect or guaranteed
Lloyd

Footslogger

April 28th, 2006, 10:36 AM

Nothing in medicine is perfect or guaranteed Lloyd

==========================================

That's why they still call it "The Practice of Medicine"

'Slogger

archman

April 28th, 2006, 10:51 AM

Haloes are a common side-effect of custom-lasik, just like regular lasik. It took me several months to be fully comfortable with night driving, especially night driving in the rain.

The dry eye can be very bad for the first few weeks. In nearly all people, it goes away. Just be gentle to your eyes... stay away from nasty computer screens!

Bobbin-along

May 1st, 2006, 11:02 AM

Harley,

First things first. Relax.
Second. All humans heal at different rates, and when it comes to lasik your eyes heal at their own rate, with the following factors increasing your healing time. General health and body's healing rate and inflammation response, amount of correction, type of flap surgery (laser cut or microkeratome), age, and mental state. While you hear of magical recoveries and perfect vision overnight, take it all with a bit of grace and patience.

I had moderate myopia and severe astigmatism when I finally found a surgeon that I felt comfortable with to touch my only pair of peeps. He was extremely clear about my expected recovery time and what to expect during the healing process and that did loads for my recovery expectation time. Your eyes will take up to 6 months to recover and settle into their vision level. During the first 3 months you can expect haziness (like looking through gauze), starbursts and halos, and fluctuating vision. Evenings will be the hardest as you have been straining your eyes all day long and inflammation and eye strain will be at it's peak. Be patient and keep hydrated.

My surgery was 2 years ago and while my first few months were a healing process I couldn't be happier with the end result. The day of surgery he told me to go home and sleep until 9 the next morning and not to open my eyes except for eye drops (steroids and anti-biotics) no matter how much I wanted to look around. I went in the next morning, the goggles came off, and I had my first eye test which came in at 20/40 with lots of eye watering and fear, since I couldn't see 20/20 like you hear about. he was very calm, said nothing is amiss, and to come back in 5 days for a checkup to see how things are, that I would see improvements after a day or two. So off I went with haziness in my eyes and 20/40 vision convinced that the best surgeon in the state had just blown me off (completely forgetting his talk with me before the surgery).

Days 2-4 were leaps and bounds improved in the vision not fluctuating, and things only being blurry when tired or dehydrated, but I found out that I was hypersensitive to an ingredient in the eye drops to keep my eyes moist that was making the eyes gummy and sore. he swapped me over to Systane (no methylcellulose) and all the dry eye problems went away. But I still had haziness and told him at the next visit. Vision had improved to 20/20 in the shop and he explained that the vaccum seal made on the eye for the flap was causing the swelling, and just calm down it will go away.

3 weeks into the surgery I woke up and the haziness and starry lights were literally cut in half, with another 3 weeks before they went away completely. My starbursts around lights now only appear when i'm dehydrated at the end of a day or well past my bedtime, which also happend to be when I would halo around lights before surgery. I go to a different opthamologist than the eye surgeon (and they don't do that partner thing) current vision settled in at 20/20 in the right and 20/15 in the left, with only a hint of the astigmatism in the right eye which wasn't even enough to measure into a prescription lens it's so small.

Does that help?

gavp333

November 4th, 2009, 04:03 PM

To All Who had LASIK recently, PLEASE help!

I had my eyes done on Saturday (4 days ago), and although I measured 20/30 the day after, I am still experiencing "halos" around flourescent lighting and fine print at distance isn't yet clear for me. Things also become less clear to me as the day wears on..

The Dr. explained that different people heal at different rates, and the fact that 1) I am over 40, and 2) I had a very severe prescription (-5.50 on R and -5.00 on L eye) will determine how quickly I get "perfect" clarity.

My frustration is I have heard about people having LASIK and seeing "flawlessly" the very next day!
I know I am an impatient type (Type A) individual, and I do work almost continuously in flourescent lighting (went to work the next day) and also use the computer at work several hours a day..all things that probably don't help much!

On the positive side, I have NO symptoms, discomfort or other issues. But the "whites" of my eyes are still red/bloodshot and I have been applying ALL three types of drops religiously (anti-biotic, anti-inflammatory, and preservative-free tears)..

ANY personal experiences, advice, or feedback would be appreciated!
(Or, maybe I just need to "chill out" for a week and THEN re-evaluate!)

It's just frustrating when you are told the procedure went perfectly, but you are not "seeing" the results (yet)..
THANKS!
I had bi lateral laser surgery on the 8th of October and am nearly 20/20 vision, but I have halos and star bursts around lights at night and this is making driving diffacult, the surgeon has told me that these will go in time, can any one tell me if this is the case? as it is now the 4th November and nothing has changed.

Thanks Chris

gavp333

November 4th, 2009, 04:05 PM

I had bi lateral laser surgery on the 8th of October and am nearly 20/20 vision, but I have halos and star bursts around lights at night and this is making driving diffacult, the surgeon has told me that these will go in time, can any one tell me if this is the case? as it is now the 4th November and nothing has changed.

Thanks Chris

Gombessa

November 4th, 2009, 04:10 PM

Hi Chris,

I don't know what "bilateral laser" surgery is, but typically for lasik, what you see after a couple of days is 90% of final. It takes up to a month for the cornea to totally heal, but people typically do not experience drastic changes or improvements after the first few days. This is what several lasik surgeons have told me and it's very consistent with what I experienced.

Jax

November 4th, 2009, 04:22 PM

Had mine done Dec 2002, my eyes still get tired later in the day and the vision gets a little blurry. I was seeing 20/15 the next day, still get some halo's when my eyes are tired. Also, one eye is 20/20 and the other is 20/15 and at times i question the difference between the two, I MAY have the other touched up. Freedom from glasses and contacts just for the last 4 years have been worth it. I have problems reading REAL SMALL print though.
Congrats, Jimbo

Ditto.

Figure 6 months, dude, to full healing. It'll stablize, but still have halos and stuff later on. Do continue to be religious on the drops .. . . even if you do not need them. #1 problem is cornea drying and wrinkling. My vision changed in and out up to six weeks after, and still I get fuzzy when tired.

I went from a -8.5 to plano (perfect) & -1.0, but I also have 'ghosts'. Night driving is not so much fun when you get older.

LVX

November 4th, 2009, 08:37 PM

I had mine down a couple of years ago. I had haloing for a few days and each day it got a little better. After about 1 month, everything was fine and the same as it is today. The best decision I have ever made...

Padipro

November 4th, 2009, 08:41 PM

I had the halos for several months after the surgery. I worked nights at the time so talk about a PITA to drive and then work with the halos. They should eventually disappear but it's going to take a while. If you have no other complications from the surgery everything should be just fine and a few more weeks to months.

Bobbin-along

November 5th, 2009, 12:52 PM

Type A personality isn't your problem. :) it's you thinking that you are like everyone else!

LASIK is a pretty safe procedure, but it still is surgery and it is traumatic to some very sensitive tissues. There is so much that is a factor on when your vision will heal up that you can't know until you go through it.

1. All LASIK begins with suction of your eye to stabilize it to make the flap. That suction is the part that causes the bruising of the tissue. That bruising is a major contributor to filmy/veiled vision, halos, etc. during the healing process. For some people the suction amount used is small enough, and their usual bruising level is such that the eye recovers fairly quick, but NOBODY has perfect halo-free, film free vision 24 hours after the event. Most people recall how much better they see, but the excitement of the event overshadows any residual bruising. The red eyes is about your bruising, more than likely. Relax. Quit freaking out and give your eyes a rest.

2. Age, healing ability, general health, and how quickly you start using your "vision" after the surgery also have something to do with your post-operative healing. Some studies suggest that the surgery is not traumatic enough to warrant keeping the eyes closed the first 24 hours after the operation. Others reports have found that greater ablation, age, and slow healing ability can be dramatically mitigated if you allow the patient 18-24 hours of quiet rest with the eyes closed and left to heal.

I had LASIK done 5 years ago I did keep my eyes closed the first day, and freaked out that next day that my vision was still awful. 2 weeks later, I was doing better, and a month later I was 20/15, 20/20 but still had the swelling. and it took 3 months for my veiling/filmy vision to completely clear, and I had halos for awhile but those went away as well.

Be patient with your body, you put your eyes through a big deal and now they need to heal. Obviously burning, itching, pain, and excessive or no tearing are issues to be addressed right away. Also the drops you use also can increase the sensation of filming and halos as they not only put a medicated film on the eyes, but they also can affect intra-occular pressure and swelling.

gavp333

November 9th, 2009, 11:44 AM

Is there a surgical correction for the halo problem with the Visix laser? Or will fixing the dry eye problem help? I notice the problem is at its worst when I'm driving home at 2 am from work after staring at my computer screen or somebody's gaping open laceration for a few hours.
Hi, Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post.My concern about these side effects is because I drive a large heavy goods vehicle for a living, so as you can see pardon the pun good vision is very important. Because I live in England we may have different names for the types of lasik, the laser surgery I undertook was where they Manuel y cut a flap. I had high astigmatism and my prescription was Right eye -3 left -4 I have just had another check up 1 month later and thing seem to be settling down a little bit.The surgeon again assured me that the advances in laser technology and the laser they use is second to none and the halo's and star busts will go , but because of my high prescription I must give it time. I have my next check up in two months so will keep you posted.